National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) PJSC announced the launch of its Structured Trade Commodity Financing (STCF) facility, a specialised form of trade finance that aims to be a one-stop solution for the cross-border commodity trading requirements of companies across the UAE. The STCF was launched at NBF’s annual trade finance customer workshops, held last week to apprise the bank’s clients of the latest developments in international trade.

With STCF, the bank will work with clients to structure comprehensive, short-to-medium term financing arrangements to support their commodity trading activity. Typically, STCF transactions are structured around a company’s supply chain, from the purchase to sale and export of commodities and materials, and constitute a full suite of trade financing and foreign exchange hedging tools.

NBF’s expertise in trade finance, coupled with its strong counterparty network and multi-disciplinary teams specialising in sectors from energy and marine to precious metals and commodities, gives it a distinct advantage in meeting the STCF requirements of clients; the bank’s trade finance subsidiary in Hong Kong for instance, also serves as a vital gateway to the important Middle East-Asia trade corridor.

Vikram Pradhan, NBF’s Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, said, “The introduction of STCF underscores the bank’s rising stature as a market maker in cross border transactions: It used to be such sophisticated solutions would fall under the domain of bigger, global financial institutions. NBF’s introduction of its own structured trade facility therefore sends a strong signal to the market of our technical competency, client focus as well as ability to manage complex, large-scale transactions. As trade continues to open up and companies in the UAE venture into new territory, we remain committed to working closely with clients to develop innovative solutions attuned to their businesses, while helping raise awareness of the importance of this sector in the local economy.”

A member of the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) UAE Chapter and one of the founding parties of the Trade Finance Managers Forum, an informal gathering of UAE trade experts, NBF participates regularly in industry events from February’s Global Trade Review Middle East Trade Finance Week to the ICC Banking Commission meetings held in conjunction with the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry in April.

This year’s NBF Trade Finance customer workshops were held in the emirates of Fujairah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah, and saw trade finance experts like Vincent O’Brien, Chair of the ICC Banking Commission, ICC Market Intelligence Group, sharing the latest insights with a combined audience of 450 customers.